Heretofore, Sm-Fe system compounds have not been of much technological interest. One reason has been that the Curie points are generally low. For example, Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 has a Curie point of approximately 122 C. In addition, Sm.sub.2 Fe.sub.17 has a low anisotropy field and is an easy plane material unlike the easy axis SmCo.sub.5 compound. A second reason is that there is no corresponding Fe compound to the technologically important SmCo.sub.5 compound in the pure Sm-Fe system.